Pandemic, Murder Hornets, Riots, and with a little luck, mega Hurricanes.

[sdifox]

You need to speak non religious English because I am not familiar with religious and I do not get what you were saying (golden calf?). I don't really care for religious or know much about it. The only thing I know a bit here and there is from watching some of the annual showing of The Ten Commandments on ABC TV and chit chat with my friends whenever they tried to ask me to go to church with them. I haven't been to a church for years and years.

I do not know if my friends support D or R or whatever. We do not talk much politic.

That golden calf thing WAS in the Ten Commandment movie...

 

[Mai72]

We are on a rock flying thru space. Life is inpermenant. It's always changing. For better, or worse.

My point is the security that we all seek is an illusion. Two quotes that come to mind. One from Helen Keller who was blind, and led an amazing life at a time that didn't treat disadvantaged people well. And, Thich Nhat Hanh, Vietnamize buddhist monk: "It is not impermanence that makes us suffer. What makes us suffer is wanting things to be permanent when they are not." And Helen: “Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing.”

 

[Mai72]

That golden calf thing WAS in the Ten Commandment movie...

I remember that movie. lol, people think that is actually factual.

 

[IronWing]

It's early.
Edit. It really is early, I read that sentence as "you are a real person ain't ya".
I was once caught up in a riot, and was absolutely astounded at the total lack of humanity involved. It was an orgy of violence that achieved nothing. Now that riots have become a cover for looting I have no sympathy for the participants. This isn't a demonstration of solidarity against an unjust system, it's destruction, violence, and theft. So yeah, they can all go straight to hell wearing gasoline underwear.

See how easy that was for you? You wash your hands of responsibility for a corrupt system that happens to benefit you as that system crushes the expected outcomes of that system and all for your benefit.

 

[Greenman]

Same answer I gave before. You would have a vastly different opinion if your home was torched or looted. Pontificating from your comfortable sofa costs nothing, the compassion you have for those downtrodden looters would evaporate the moment your new car was scratched. Your compassion is a dollar deep.

 

[brycejones]

Same answer I gave before. You would have a vastly different opinion if your home was torched or looted. Pontificating from your comfortable sofa costs nothing, the compassion you have for those downtrodden looters would evaporate the moment your new car was scratched. Your compassion is a dollar deep.

Who here is pro looting?

 

[Genx87]

I think the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse have had a makeover. Anyone want to guess what's next?
The only good thing about 2020 is being able to say you survived it in 2021.

Shatstorms incoming

 

[pmv]

I'm actually surprised that some of you are ok with riots and looting. I guess the idea is that as long as it's happening to other people, it's no big deal. I'd be willing to bet you'd have a whole new outlook if your house was burned down.
Those folks aren't bringing attention to a just cause, they're criminals generating contempt. This isn't about civil rights, it's about booze and tv's.

You seem to be OK with the system that has produced it.

And I notice you are speaking as if everyone out there, protestors, looters and victims of police violence alike, constitute a single hive-mind who can be collectively-blamed. How do you react when people do that with the police or to 'white people'?

 

[Vic]

Same answer I gave before. You would have a vastly different opinion if your home was torched or looted. Pontificating from your comfortable sofa costs nothing, the compassion you have for those downtrodden looters would evaporate the moment your new car was scratched. Your compassion is a dollar deep.

To me, compassion means not lumping in peaceful protesters together with looters just because I might disagree with the protesters' speech.

 

[Thump553]

I think the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse have had a makeover. Anyone want to guess what's next?
The only good thing about 2020 is being able to say you survived it in 2021.

I disagree totally with the bolded part. We could very well be in the sort of year that happens every couple of decades or less, one which have a substantial influence on American, even human, civilization for years to come. I'm looking forward to see what develops-almost certainly it will be better than the rapid decline financially, politically and socially instituted by Trump (I say financially because of the huge amount of debt we took on and unbalanced government revenues-even pre-COVID-he intentionally caused).

 

[Greenman]

You seem to be OK with the system that has produced it.

And I notice you are speaking as if everyone out there, protestors, looters and victims of police violence alike, constitute a single hive-mind who can be collectively-blamed. How do you react when people do that with the police or to 'white people'?

Incorrect. "Those people" is referencing looters and rioters. I thought that was clear from the context. The blame is exclusively on them.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

To me, compassion means not lumping in peaceful protesters together with looters just because I might disagree with the protesters' speech.

They have none. I am concerned that millions of my fellow U.S. citizens are victimized, profiled, and over policed. Frequently resulting in being beaten and killed. They are worried about their materialistic possessions being damaged. You know, have the U.S. police and military incarcerate and kill U.S. citizens, to make certain they don't scratch my paint. Projecting that we care as much about inanimate crap as they do. Fuck outta here with that.

No one supports looting, but I am not going to join the brown shirts over it. The hell is wrong with people?

 

[Vic]

It seems that the protests in Portland were proceeding peacefully last night until a truck driver try to run down a crowd. Then it fell apart...

 

[pmv]

Incorrect. "Those people" is referencing looters and rioters. I thought that was clear from the context. The blame is exclusively on them.

And they are one "people", then, in your view? What is it that makes them a unitary entity for you?

 

[FaaR]

Same answer I gave before. You would have a vastly different opinion if your home was torched or looted. Pontificating from your comfortable sofa costs nothing, the compassion you have for those downtrodden looters would evaporate the moment your new car was scratched. Your compassion is a dollar deep.

Projection. Compassion with other people, especially unrelated people from other social groups/walks of life has never been one of the hallmarks of conservatives and rightwingers.

A normal person gifted with empathy on the other hand would understand WHY protesters riot in times of social upheaval. They don't want their homes burned down - who would? But there is the realization that when humans are pushed to the brink of their mental endurance there's gonna be explosive backlash. It has happened many times in human history (because we seem unable to stop being BAD.)

Anyone who has genuine compassion would not blame the protestors for rioting. They would blame the faulty, corrupt system that forced the protestors into rioting.

 

[Greenman]

The Four Presidential advisors of th


And they are one "people", then, in your view? What is it that makes them a unitary entity for you?

They are all members of a group I label as criminals.
It really does blow me away that anyone is defending this. I know with absolute certainty that if your home was looted and burned you wouldn't be forgiving those actions. You accept it because it doesn't affect you, and you see some justice in those actions, as long as you don't pay the price.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Projection. Compassion with other people, especially unrelated people from other social groups/walks of life has never been one of the hallmarks of conservatives and rightwingers.

A normal person gifted with empathy on the other hand would understand WHY protesters riot in times of social upheaval. They don't want their homes burned down - who would? But there is the realization that when humans are pushed to the brink of their mental endurance there's gonna be explosive backlash. It has happened many times in human history (because we seem unable to stop being BAD.)

Anyone who has genuine compassion would not blame the protestors for rioting. They would blame the faulty, corrupt system that forced the protestors into rioting.

Nah dude, they just need to take a knee at a sporting event, or wear shirts saying I can't breath, or hold up signs in the street that say Hand's up, Don't Shoot! or something like that. Maybe even protest during an award speech, that kind of thing.

Never you mind all the KKK types infiltrating and starting trouble so idiots can condemn the protesters.

 

[brycejones]

They are all members of a group I label as criminals.
It really does blow me away that anyone is defending this. I know with absolute certainty that if your home was looted and burned you wouldn't be forgiving those actions. You accept it because it doesn't affect you, and you see some justice in those actions, as long as you don't pay the price.

Still waiting for you to say who is in favor of looting here.

You keep lumping rioters (who are arguably responding to the treatment they have received from police) with looters.

 

[brycejones]

Nah dude, they just need to take a knee at a sporting event, or wear shirts saying I can't breath, or hold up signs in the street that say Hand's up, Don't Shoot! or something like that. Maybe even protest during an award speech, that kind of thing.

Never you mind all the KKK types infiltrating and starting trouble so idiots can condemn the protesters.

All that shit you mentioned was already unacceptable (it was "seeking attention", "inappropriate for the venue", "unpatriotic and disrespectful to our troops") etc etc.

 

[FaaR]

Nah dude, they just need to take a knee at a sporting event, or wear shirts saying I can't breath, or hold up signs in the street that say Hand's up, Don't Shoot! or something like that. Maybe even protest during an award speech, that kind of thing.

Yeah, the "let them eat cake" T-shirts were big sellers with protestors during the French revolution. /s

I'm not saying you can't protest without rioting - you absolutely can. But when great anger has been pent up in a lot of people for many many years and there's been no viable alternative outlets for their voices to be heard...this is an expected result. It's basically a function of our psychological makeup as a species. As flock animals we tend to go with the flow when it happens.

I don't see how anyone could succeed in stopping it, short of like, ending all injustices on the planet. Which we know isn't a realistic goal, sadly.

Never you mind all the KKK types infiltrating and starting trouble so idiots can condemn the protesters.

Well, like I said, we humans are BAD. So yeah, that will also happen when nasty people have vested interests in upholding status quo.

 

[eelw]

Again the true protestors should respect curfew. What’s the difference in protesting 8AM-8PM that the extra 5 hours after will make a difference?

 

[HomerJS]

They are all members of a group I label as criminals.
It really does blow me away that anyone is defending this. I know with absolute certainty that if your home was looted and burned you wouldn't be forgiving those actions. You accept it because it doesn't affect you, and you see some justice in those actions, as long as you don't pay the price.

Are you sure those families didn't do something to provoke it?

Aka Bothem Jean

 

[mect]

They are all members of a group I label as criminals.
It really does blow me away that anyone is defending this. I know with absolute certainty that if your home was looted and burned you wouldn't be forgiving those actions. You accept it because it doesn't affect you, and you see some justice in those actions, as long as you don't pay the price.

It totally does blow me away that you are defending police killing innocent black men. You accept it because it isn't your son or your brother dying at the knees of the police. It doesn't affect you.

See how easy it is to win arguments when you define the oppositions stance?

 

[[DHT]Osiris]

What’s the difference in protesting 8AM-8PM that the extra 5 hours after will make a difference?

Compliance with the authoritarian system they're protesting against?

 

[eelw]

It totally does blow me away that you are defending police killing innocent black men.

Whoa whoa whoa. Can’t believe I’m defending Greenman. But where is he defending cops killing innocent black men? He’s not condoning the looters and ones causing destruction.